Arch supporting shoe



Patentecl May 14, 1946 l v UNITED STATES OFFICE Karl, A. Stritter, meant, Mass.

v Application July 3,1943, Serial No. 493,396

' 3 Claims.

This invention relates to shoemaking and consists in a shoe having a plaque secured between the upper and the welt or sole-fastening strip and to the outside surface of the upper in the inside shank portion of the shoe and'designed not only to present a novel ornamental style effect, but also to lend support to the longitudinal arch of the foot.

It is common practice in shoemaking to form an arch supporting wing or cookie integral with an insole or shank piece and it has also been proposed to form such a wing as an integral part of an outsole. However, the presence in a sole blank of a protecting wing seriously interferes with the usual stock fitting operationssuch as rounding, splitting, channeling, and shank 'reducing. I

One object of my invention is to provide a decorati-ve arch-supporting plaque adapted to be secured to a sole after the usual stock-fitting. operations have been carried outon a sole blank of conventional shape, in order .to combine the advantage of an arch support in'the finished shoe with theadvantage of easy stock fitting in manufacturing.

A further object of my invention is to provide a shoe equipped with a plaque which'is not only valuable for its orthopedic function but which adds a dash of fine style to the shoe, a departure from conventional hoemaking practice which has heretofore almost invariably coupled orthopedic functions with unattractive appearance.

An important advantage of my invention is that the lower margin of the decorative arch supporting plaque may easily be incorporated in the structure of the shoe and fastened between the upper and the sole structure by the usual means employed to unite the upper and the shoe bottom. That is to say, the plaque of my invention may be employed in any cement or sewed shoe, without requiring a change in the means used tofasten the upper to the sole or soles.

A feature of my invention consists in a decorative arch supporting plaque having an integral portion extending rearwardly along the inside shank of the sole to fill the hollow at the inside of the heel of the wearer so that the entire inside line of the shoe from the ball line to the back of the heel is accurately conformed to the shape of the average foot.

Another advantage of my invention comes from the fact that I may use various plastic materials to form the decorative arch-supporting plaque, since the plaque is not a part of the insole or outsole, and such plastic plaques mayharmonize tion,

or cOntrast withthe color of the material used to form the upper of the shoe andso, add ornamental value to the shoe.

A further advantagefrom the standpoint of economy-results-from using separate pieces of material for the arch supporting plaque and for the outsole, instead of using-a single larger blank for an integral structure cut from expensive sole leather.

Theseandother objects'and'f eatures of my invention will 'bemore readily understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof I selected for purposes of illustration and shownin the accompanying drawing in which, v p

i Fig l'is'a view in side elevation of'a shoe including in its structure the plaque of my inven- Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of a Compo welt outsole complete and. assembled with the plaque,

Fig; 3 is a cross-sectional view of a Goodyear welt shoe including th'e plaque, and

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a stitchdown welt shoe. J. Theiinvention is herein illustrated and claimed in its. application to shoes of welt types. This application is a continuation in part of. my 00- pending'application Ser. No. 427,605, filed. January 21, 1942, now Patent No. 2,325,639, dated August 3, 1943, in which I. have disclosed. and claimed my invention. asa process of shoemaking adapted moreparticularly to the manufacture of McKay or Compo shoes. In Fig. 1 is illustrated a Womans shoe improved in construction and general appearance by having a plaque incorporated therein in accordance with my invention. The shoe comprises an upper l0, an'outsole l2, a welt l3, and a heel The decorative arch-supporting plaque I6 is positioned outside the upper on the inside shank of' the shoe and extends from a point to the rear of the heel breast line substantially to the ball line of the sole. The plaque is of stiiT, resilient material and substantially arcuate in outline although its edge may be scalloped, beaded or subjected to any desired ornamentation or it may have an ornamental design perforated therein or may have a colored or ornamental cover. The plaque may be incorporated in the shoe according to the type thereof by any one of the three processes illustrated in detail on a larger scale in Figs. 2, 3,.and 4, or in any other shoe having a welt.

In Fig. 3 is illustrated in transverse cross section the construction of a Goodyear welt shoe having a plaque l6 incorporated therein. The insole I1 is prepared by channeling and reinforcing to present the sewing rib I8. Outside the sewing rib the margin of the insole is substantially reduced in thickness. The upper 10 including a counter stiffener II, the lower marginal edge of the plaque l6, and the welt 13 are now sewed to the insole rib M3 by the usual Goodyear welt sewing machine. .After the inseam has been trimmed and the bottom filled with the filler I9 the outsole I2 is stitched in place by the outseam I which permanently units the welt and outsole or I cemented in place as in the Sbicca welt. The upper edge of the plaque l6 may be stitched-to the upper by the seam at any convenient time, .or

otherwise fastened. All the shoe making operations involved are those ordinarily carried out in any welt shoe factory and no special stock fitting operations upon either the insole or the outsole are required. The onl difference is that throughout the length of the plaque Hi the welt sewing operator has to deal with the additional thickness of the lower margin of the plaque Hi. This however, may be preliminarily molded to substantially its final shape and the added thickness it involves is conveniently taken care of in the channeling by widening the margin to allow for 'the added thickness.

The particular plaque shown in Fig. 3 is represented as having a perforation which may be part of a letter Or an ornamental design and may show a contrasting color in the upper. The resulting shoe has all the advantages of a welt shoe of ordinary construction and the additional advantage of an arch-supporting and ornamental plaque, all secured without in any way interfering with or upsetting the ordinary shoemaking operations carried out in the production of a welt shoe.

Fig. 2 illustrates the application of my invention to the production of welted shoes of the Compo or cemented type, or mock welt shoe of'any type. In making such'shoes the overlasted margin of the upper is usually secured by cement to the outer face of the insole. An outsole is then completed in its final shape and a welt strip 3| is secured by. stitching to its margin. The completed outsole is then secured in the shoe bottom by cement with the welt disposed in contact with the upper. The sole may also be secured to the shoe by Littleway or McKay stitching. The welt ornaments and gives strength to the edge of the sole, but serves no function in securing the outsole in place.

In accordance with the present invention a plaque l6 having its lower edge suitably flanged is secured to the inside shank of the outsole with its flanged edge interposed between the welt strip 3| and, the outsole and is permanently secured in place by the welt securing stitches. Here again it will be apparent that the plaque has been introduced into the shoe structure, but in no way interfering with the usual shoemaking steps practiced in the manufacture of Compo or cemented shoes.

In Fig. 4 my invention is illustrated in its application to a stitch-down welt shoe of the double sole type. In this instance the upper 40 including a shank stiffener 3| is outwardly flanged at its margin and lasted to a mid-sole 42 by a line of stitching 43. A plaque l6 having its lower edge outwardly flanged is then located against the upper with its flange superposed upon the outturned margin of the upper. In a pre-we'lt shoe the plaque is secured between the upper and the welt when the welt is being secured t the upper. The welt is then laid about the margin of the shoe, covering the flange of the plaque l5 and these parts are secured in their assembled relation, together with the outsole 45, by a line of stitching 46.

Having thus disclosed myinvention and described illustrative embodiments thereof in detail I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A welt shoe comprising an upper, a welt, an outsole, a welt seam securing the welt to the upper, and an external arch-supporting plaque molded of stiff resilient material, fastened by said welt seam to the upper and coextensive in area with the inside shank portionof the shoe.

2 A shoe having an upper, an insole, an outsole, a seam securing, a sole-fastening strip to the upper, and an external arch-supporting plaque molded of stiff resilient material, fastened by said seam to the upper and coextensive in area with the inside shank portion of the shoe.

3. A shoe having an upper, an insole, an outsole, a filler layer, a seam securing a bottom-unit fastening strip to the upper, and an external arch-supporting plaque molded of stiff resilient material, fastened by said seam to the upper and coextensive in area with the inside shank portion of the shoe.

KARL A. STRIT'IER. 

